April 18, 2016
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It was a gorgeous Blue & White Weekend in Happy Valley, and despite being a weekend typically known for its football and tailgating, James Franklin's squad wasn't the only Penn State team putting on a clinic.
Across the street from Beaver Stadium, the Penn State softball team earned their third Big Ten series sweep of the season as they beat the Maryland Terrapins 9-6, 4-0 and 5-3 en route to earning their spot in the history books.
The win on Saturday was Penn State's tenth conference win of the season, making them just the eighth team in school history to reach that milestone. They reached the mark in the fewest amount of games (13), too, besting the record set by the 2002 team that did it in 15 games.
Senior Macy Jones started the weekend off strong for the Nittany Lions (24-17, 11-3 Big Ten), going 4-for-4 on Friday night, including two RBIs off her ninth homerun of the season.
"Macy, like I've said all year, has been Steady Eddy for us," head coach Amanda Lehotak said. "She's having some power numbers that she's never had before but really that's just because she's so confident and relaxed at the plate right now. She's seeing the ball really well, she's being aggressive [and] as a leadoff that's exactly what you want."
Jones credits her success to the four years that she's been on the team that have prepared her for this moment.
"It's just that it's my senior year and I feel like I've been in this situation before and I know what to do so I'm more confident than I have been in the past," Jones said. "I'm really just trying not to think about it too much and am just envisioning myself having good at bats and swinging at good pitches and the results [have been] great but even if they weren't, you just got to keep going."
Jones' homerun was the first of three long balls hit in the fourth inning of Friday night's game, with Shelby Miller and Alyssa VanDerveer also each smacking a solo shot in the frame. VanDerveer also tacked on another home run in the first inning of game two to give Penn State the quick lead.
It looked like the Nittany Lions were going to cruise to the sweep early on in game three thanks to a three-run first inning. But the Terps battled back, much like Lehotak knew they would, and were able to tie it up in the fifth inning.
"Once they scored, we believe in answer innings and we just had to answer so that was our focus," Lehotak said.
Penn State wasn't able to answer until the bottom of the sixth, when Lehotak made a decision that would play out pretty 'good'.
With the bases loaded and one out, Lehotak put senior Shannon Good in to pinch hit for Erin Pond, hoping she could score one of the runs on base. Good did more than that, and smacked a line drive up the middle, scoring two before advancing to second on the throw.
"Shannon's our best pinch hitter, I think she's the best pinch hitter I've ever had in my entire career and she's usually money in that situation," Lehotak said. "It was a good matchup for her and she's done that for the past few years for us so that's exactly why I put her in there and she did great."
The weekend marked the first time that a sellout crowd watched a game at Beard Field, as over 1,100 fans took in the game on Saturday. The fans were back in full force again on Sunday, making it the first back-to-back sellouts in Beard Field history.
"Oh my god, it's amazing. If I could write a personal letter of the thanks to the fans I would," Lehotak said. "It means a lot, our kids work really hard, most of their games are away from here so for the fans that come out and support them and celebrate what they do, it was pretty special. I know the kids are very honored by it and hopefully the fans are proud of how we played."